Police have detained one man, but so far it is not known why the suspect carried out such a heinous act.
BELIZE CITY, Thurs. May 19, 2022
Six residents of the Maya village of San Vicente, Toledo, were hospitalized this week after drinking water from the village’s water reservoir, into which, unbeknownst to them, a resident of the village on Monday had poured a bottle of an insecticide known as Malathion. His shocking act potentially exposed an entire village of around 400 persons to the harmful chemical, but the villagers became aware of what had transpired when they started to smell an odor emanating from their pipes that alerted them that something was amiss.
According to John Bodden, Principal Health Inspector in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, “The bottle was found in the area and the scent was there and so Public Health immediately started to get in action in terms of what needs to be done to control and safeguard the population. So at that time the immediate closure of the system was ordered and the chairman of the Water Board was contacted and they were notified that the system should not be operated until it is clean and has been tested and is found to be safe for use again.”
Bodden told 7News earlier this week that they were carrying out chemical and bacterial testing of samples of water from the village’s two water tanks, but he pointed out that the Health Ministry does not have the capacity “to test malathion specifically in terms of the chemical sampling” and it thus sought the assistance of the Belize Agricultural Health Authority (BAHA) to get that type of testing done.
Malathion is used largely in citrus orchards in southern Belize and has a distinctly pungent aroma that could make a person nauseous through mere inhalation. Accidental ingestion in the past has caused severe illness, and there have been instances in which such ingestion led to the hospitalization of some farmers, who almost lost their lives.
According to Principal Health Inspector Bodden, this particular insecticide is a regulated chemical, but he noted that “San Vicente is close to the border and people can actually go across the border and purchase the insecticide.” “From time to time we find out that people have it, who should not have that in their possession,” he said.
While it is not clear how the villager who poisoned the village’s water supply was able to obtain the insecticide, Bodden told 7News that they had “notified the police so that they can do their investigation and of course there are some leads that they are looking at that will be taken care of by the police.”
The Police Department has since detained the villager who is believed to have poured the chemical into the large tanks which supply the entire village with fresh water.
“With the ministry’s assistance, community leaders reported the incident to police, who immediately responded and detained one person suspected of carrying out this heinous act,” a release from the ministry said. That person’s identity has not yet been revealed, and there is no indication if any charges have yet been filed against the individual.
It is to be noted that the water supply system in San Vicente lacks some security features that could have prevented the villager from contaminating the village’s water. According to Bodden, “It’s a rudimentary water system. It’s a platform elevated about 12 feet above the ground, a cement platform with 2 water tanks on the top and then that water is fed to the community.” There is apparently no enclosure surrounding the tanks that would prevent the entry of a person seeking to do mischief or cause harm.
“There are a number of things we are looking at in terms of recommendation. Of course, one of them — the standard construction of one of these water systems is to have a perimeter boundary around the area, so that nobody can actually get close to it and then it would have a gate that is locked and controlled. In the other systems, you can put a lock unto the system, but unfortunately this one is not that type, so it can still be accessed by individuals, because it’s just a screw lid on the top,” Bodden said.
It is to be noted that both reservoirs have been flushed out, but it has been reported that the ministry is in the meantime providing fresh water to the villagers, as they continue to flush the system and test for any traces of the contaminants.
Why a village member of San Vicente would want to potentially poison the entire village is still unclear.
“The ministry strongly condemns the deliberate contamination of community residents’ drinking water, which endangers their lives,” stated the release from the Health Ministry.
This afternoon, Dr. Melissa Diaz Musa from the MOHW shared that health inspectors have given the all-clear. “From what we know, the water has been cleaned, they’ve done everything that needs to be done including in the wells and the reservoirs and it is now safe again to use and the Ministry of Health is working with the Ministry of Rural Development as well and our public health inspectors had gone to do the visit at the village and confirmed that the water is safe again.”